Ubud II: The Long-Awaited Sequel That Mildly Disappoints

So we're back in Ubud, obviously, and today was the big cremation ceremony we'd rearranged our trip to see. In a word: meh.

We stood around for a few hours in the blazing sun, patiently waiting with about 50,000 other people, to essentially see some parade floats get moved down the street by a few hundred Balinese guys. Don't get me wrong: it was a pretty cool thing to witness. It's not everyday you see a Balinese king's cremation ceremony, with huge bull and dragon effigies and 90-foot high casket towers. But after going out of our way to see it, it was a bit of a letdown. There was no 'ceremony' per se, just a loosely organized series of events that we never fully understood. And there was a lot of standing around waiting.

Returning to Ubud's been worth it in the long run, though, because in addition to the ceremony we also ate dinner at a local's house last night. Our friend Made from the kecak dance (see older posts) invited us to his place, and it was really special. He made us his own special chicken sate, and his wife made all kinds of good vegetables, dessert and rice. We hung out talking with his family and then his 9-year-old daughter took us to see her brother at gamelan (music) practice. Getting an authentic taste of Balinese life isn't something we'll soon forget. Even if it was a little uncomfortable at times bridging the language barrier... That Made is a super-nice guy. We plan to buy him a sarong as thanks for all the kindness his family has shown us.

I'll post pictures from the ceremony and dinner at Made's, plus maybe some buffalo sacrifice and Torajan funeral pics, tomorrow. The internet cafe I'm using right now kind of sucks.